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While each power of consciousness, physical, vital, mental (and others) operates in its native mode and strength in its own plane or sphere of action, it projects itself into the world we inhabit by tying itself to the foundation of the basic physical principle. This involves a ‘watering down’ ... Views: 434
We recognise the electro-magnetic spectrum, the color spectrum, the sound wave spectrum and others, each as representing a continuum of wave forms with varying characteristics. There are shorter, more intense waves and longer wave frequencies. Some conduct tremendous amounts of physical heat, ... Views: 401
We have a strong bias in favor of accepting things that we can perceive with our physical senses, and we tend to disbelieve or discount anything that is not directly, physically available to our experience. Yet if we reflect on the totality of our life experience, it becomes clear that there are ... Views: 453
We see pattens repeating from the macro-level to the micro-level. The study of fractals shows us that there are indeed certain patterns and relationships that repeat themselves in every smaller configurations as we drill down toward the micro-level. The macrocosm and the microcosm reflect the ... Views: 445
We reflect on the evolution of consciousness, how Life evolves out of Matter and Mind evolves out of Life in Matter. Nothing can evolve that has not been previously involved, just as a tree can develop out of an acorn, because the genetic coding is 'involved' in that seed and under the proper ... Views: 432
In the Taittiriya Upanishad, the seeker discovers, through intensive tapasya that there are multiple layers, or sheaths, of consciousness that make up the human being. His seeking first discovers the material body, or ‘food sheath’. As he continues he recognises the vital body, or ‘prana ... Views: 423
The evolution of consciousness involves an increasing level of complexity as successive levels of consciousness are layered and then interact with each other, with each layer attempting to not only express its own native way of seeing and acting, but also needing to accommodate the demands and ... Views: 421
One of the things that spiritual seekers experience is that regardless of how strong the central aspiration of the soul happens to be within them, they experience fluctuations based on the various parts of the external nature coming to the front and asserting their own priorities. This leads to ... Views: 455
It is practically a universal experience among religious and spiritual seekers, and even among people who are simply developing some kind of an inner life, that they have an aspiration, a desire to consecrate themselves to some goal, principle or idea, and yet, they struggle with opposing ... Views: 436
A spiritual seeker identifies with his aspiration and the focus and actions that come about as a result of that aspiration. It may be acts of prayer, acts of giving, acts of consecration, acts of meditation, or dedicated works. During the moments that he is engaged in these acts, he feels like ... Views: 452
As long as an individual is locked within a framework of understanding, he is unable to truly recognise or exceed the limits of that framework. The ego-consciousness is such a frame of awareness. It creates the sense of a separate individual, apart and having his own autonomy in ... Views: 457
As the seeker attempts to follow a spiritual path, he frequently finds that he struggles with old habits, desires, feelings, cravings, emotions and ideas. He believes these are part of ‘who he is’ and he thus cannot find a way to overcome them, In some cases, he is deeply attached to some of ... Views: 390
Almost everyone has the experience, from time to time, of acting out a different personality. We may say that someone “got out of bed on the wrong side this morning” when we see a normally cheerful and upbeat individual responding in a totally uncharacteristic way. We chalk this up to some mood ... Views: 464
Most people look at what they consider to be their personality in a very simple and straightforward manner. The mixture of ideas, thought-process, emotional responses, vital reactions, desires and physical needs and cravings is simply ‘who they are’. When they conclude that something needs to ... Views: 434
When an individual takes up the spiritual path, there is considerable focus on the idea that the life of the external world is an ‘illusion’ and needs to be abandoned in order to achieve spiritual liberation. He sees that a focus on the external personality, its needs, desires, satisfactions, ... Views: 434
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Let’s assume there is pitch darkness in your house, such that you cannot see anything ahead of you. What happens to you ... Views: 343
As long as we remain rooted in the awareness of mind-life-body, we see the world and our existence as a fragmented collection of separate objects, beings and forces and we act as if we are separate and distinct from everything else. The spiritual transformation of consciousness involves a shift ... Views: 430
In The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo describes at some length what he calls ‘the refusal of the ascetic’. This refusal is caused by the focus on the attainment of the Supreme by disregarding or even eliminating the relationship of the seeker to the life of the external world and society. He eschews ... Views: 476
In our mental view of the world, we see everything separated and fragmented, and we identify separate objects, beings and forces as interacting with one another. We can intellectually conceive of the concept that all these separate entities and forces are part of a coordinated and combined ... Views: 415
Within the framework of our mind and the experience of our vital existence, we are inculcated in the belief that everything is subject to duality, good and bad, happy and unhappy, light and dark. We cannot generally conceive of an existence that is not subject to these pairs of opposites. We ... Views: 491
There are further levels of consciousness beyond the intuition. The next superior level, as Sri Aurobindo has defined it, is that of the ‘overmind’. The overmind involves at least a partial shift of standpoint as it sees and understands the greater oneness and unity and factors that knowledge ... Views: 432
No, the mind is not immortal. And it is not a part of the immortal Soul either.
The Soul and the mind are two different entities. Just as this body is physical, the mind too is physical and is made up of matter. Whereas the Soul is not at all physical, it is pure consciousness and has no ... Views: 336
The popular idea about intuition is tied to some kind of unexplainable process of "knowing" that people go through. If it is purely based in the type of extrapolation from past experience, or some sense that drives the decision without careful and logical analysis, it is still based in the ... Views: 593
When we study the functioning of the mind, we see that the essential nature is one that can receive sense perceptions, analyze, organize and then subject the objects so developed to a process of reasoning using systematic application of rules of logic. We can also see a process of recall of ... Views: 455
It is good to earnestly love someone. But to allow yourself to become overly emotionally attached can result in an unhealthy, troubling and even on occasions, an unnatural relationship. When you are deeply in love with someone, so much so that that person inadvertently takes over your entire ... Views: 431
If we reflect for a moment on the shift from one evolutionary principle of consciousness to another, we can see a shift of standpoint as well as a difference in the mechanism of operation. Those beings who are primarily based in the vital nature tend to react based on principles of fear and ... Views: 435
Just as the electro-magnetic spectrum has ranges below those that we can consciously receive and translate, as well as ranges above those we can utilize, so also consciousness has ranges below and above our limits. The ranges below our limits are called subconscient and inconscient. Those above ... Views: 430
We are conscious and aware of forces and energies that operate within a certain specified range. Anything that falls outside that range, whether above or below, remains unseen and unknown to us, even if the forces operative in those superior or inferior ranges impact our thoughts, feelings, ... Views: 410
For much of human history, spirituality has been looked upon as a contradiction of an active life in the world. The anchorite in the desert, the renunciate, the Sannyasin, the monk or nun in the cloister are held up to us as the examples of dedication to spiritual growth and purpose. All of ... Views: 368
For those who live their lives on the surface, focused on fulfillment of their external lives, desires and their ego-personality, there is generally no direct knowledge of the existence of the soul. They may accept the idea of a soul without a clear sense of what that implies or means. Or they ... Views: 409
A feeling, an emotion, a thought arises within us. Do we ‘manufacture’ these, or are we the recipients of them from elsewhere? If we manufacture them, how exactly do we do that? Where does the basis for that thought or feeling come from? What causative factors are there for a specific feeling or ... Views: 432
There are many times when people suddenly get a true ‘sense’ or a ‘feeling’ about something that is not directly perceptible to their senses. Sometimes one will feel that someone is watching or following, although the person cannot be seen or heard. There is some inner sense, with a wider and ... Views: 426
Modern-day Western psychological researchers are finding that certain portions of the brain are related to higher cognitive functions, logic, reasoning, extrapolation, imagination, projection, analysis and classification while some parts are in charge of the purely mechanical control of things ... Views: 427
Sri Aurobindo frequently describes going inward to discover the deepest inner being, the psychic being, or soul, as one way to come into contact with the truth of one’s existence and unify one’s being with the Divine. This is a way to overcome the artificial wall of separation that we set up ... Views: 422
When we first met, I told my husband I was very adaptable. I didn’t realize the price of being a chameleon until I started recovery and my journey of individuation. By then I was dead inside. I’d spent years adapting to abuse and belittling that I’d absorbed. I was detached from my feelings and ... Views: 658
It has been famously stated that we cannot understand the system within which we are acting until we can shift our view to a standpoint outside that frame. As long as we are immersed within any particular system or standpoint, we are locked into the viewpoint and understanding embedded within ... Views: 406
For the individual living on the surface of his being, interacting with the external world, responding to impulsions, pressures, forces and the objects of desire, his inner experience is essentially a reaction to these external pressures and an attempt to meet the desires that arise and somehow ... Views: 422
Transformation of human nature is not practical from a standpoint mired within that nature. Forces push the being in one direction or another, and the individual is under the power of the divergent drives put up by the physical, the vital and the mental being, compounded by the impact of the ... Views: 462
Yoga has historically focused on liberation of the individual soul from the illusion of the outer world. The seeker is advised to see through the transitory nature of all external rewards, undertake practices that help him to discover his true self, and once that is done, live a life, free from ... Views: 447
The purpose of attaining self-knowledge is not to create an intellectual framework and be able to learnedly expound on a subject; rather, self-knowledge implies that the seeker has a purpose behind the effort. This purpose may be to find a way to gain ‘liberation’ from the existing life, to ... Views: 468
Every language has its limitations, particularly surrounding areas of development that were not central to the people who developed and utilized that language. This makes it difficult to translate concepts that are self-evident in one language easily or effectively into another language. This ... Views: 664
The Buddhist tradition describes Manjushri as a Bodhisattva who, with his flaming sword of discrimination, cuts through illusion and falsehood to disclose the truth of existence. The power of discrimination between different powers, forces, impressions, suggestions, and their source and intent ... Views: 770
For hundreds of thousands of years, humans have lived on this planet. They have each struggled to exist, to survive, to have a good life - to live. And in this time throughout history, people have encountered various obstacles, difficulties, and struggles in life. These struggles are a natural ... Views: 472
Many years ago, Sri M P Pandit suggested that a devotee write an article about the importance of precise bookkeeping and accounting while engaged in service. There was a prevailing sentiment that such ‘mental ideas’ were antithetical to the kind of absolute devotion and surrender that put ... Views: 446
In our modern world, we see the wide dissemination of yoga, primarily as a means of gaining some measure of control over the body, through the postures developed and taught under the rubric of ‘hatha yoga’. In many instances, teachers of hatha yoga have taken the step of teaching their students ... Views: 637
We tend to believe that we are a single, consistent and harmonized individuality, personality, character. For the most part, we are not self-reflective enough to recognise the inconsistencies and inner conflicts that take place within the being, due to different drives, needs, desires, and ... Views: 590
Humanity is facing an existential crisis. Scientists report that changes brought about by human civilisation have created the conditions that are causing what is now being called the sixth planetary die-off of species. The land, water and air are all being polluted. Toxic chemicals are poisoning ... Views: 430
Whatever you do will come back to you!
The slightest misery one gives to any living being does return back to him - such is the law of Nature! So, the pain given to other’s bodies will be reflected in the same way to one’s own body indeed.
However, these are all effects of one’s past ... Views: 370
We are used to the idea that if we practice something, if we undertake a course of study, we will gradually increase our ability and our level of understanding, so that eventually we move, in the academic field, for example, from primary school to high school, to college, potentially to graduate ... Views: 466
Many people are begin to reflect, and even entertain the notion, that the world we experience on a day to day basis is somehow unreal or illusory. Films such as the dystopian story set forth in The Matrix envision that human beings are fettered and their brains wired so they experience a form of ... Views: 423